An Interview with: Rene Matich

AN INTERVIEW WITH: RENE MATICH.

RENE MATICH (MATIĆ), CONCEPTUAL ARTIST, CSM, UAL.

What does the notion of the body politić look like now? Depending on who has the mic, the answer to this question can go either way. I think and hope that we are post-blackness, which is a notion that gives (at least) a moment of agency in order to escape the constraints of living ‘blackness’ through the lens of the white western hetero-patriarchy. The notion of the body politić still no doubt, has the ability to restrict us and hold blackness where certain members of society can (just about) deal with ‘it’ but from inside, I am met with so many different versions of ‘it’. I am met with a community and a rainbow of softness. So for me, the body politić is a sweet honey that keeps getting sweeter and stronger and stickier in the best and most powerful way.

What embodies ‘blackness in the white landscape’, and what does this look like to you? I think that every ounce of blackness lives in contrast to the dominant aesthetic. Every single golden grain of blackness that takes up space in the white landscape is a diamond.

What are the differences in gender related issues / topics / relationships? As a queer womxn of colour married to a womxn, I experience some shitttt and not always at the hands of just white people. I think it’s important that we address the mysognoir from within our communities. ‘without frames that allow us to see how social problems impact all the members of a targeted group, many will fall through the cracks of our movements, left to suffer in virtual isolation’ - Kimberle Crenshaw on intersectionality.

What are the differences between the British and American microcosms in the discussion of race? I think that the only difference is that America gets more media coverage for its race related news stories. No doubt this is a clever tool of distraction from the British government so that we can say ‘at least we aren’t as bad as America’ when it is just an insidious here.

How are issues of body politics manifested, visualised and framed in the everyday? We get the majority of our information from the distribution of images. Living in a digital and image based culture we have (some) agency over how blackness looks and feels and smells and moves but, the way these images are perceived depends on who gets to look. There is power that comes with the ability to insert a queer, black, femme energy into spaces where it wouldn’t usually exist. We can tell our own stories and create bespoke narratives for people with marginalised and underrepresented identities but, the manipulation and co-option of these images is a very real reality. I think that digital black face is dangerous and I worry that we are only aloud in certain spaces because we are useful for informing the mainstream. ‘it’s a vampiric relationship where we are sucked from the blood but not enough to die’ - Campbell X.

How do issues of racial body politics affect all people of colour? My mother, a white woman, says that she raised me to be Rene and not to be black. I wrote her a letter in the front of Rennie Edo-Lodge’s book ‘why I am no longer

talking to white people about race’ where I express that to the people that do not know my name, Mother, I am black or mixed race. I am whatever black or mixed-race means to that person. I never gave her the letter because, sadly, I know that black and mixed race aren’t positive things to my Mother. The issues of racial body politics affects every person of colour in this same way. The people that do not know our names will see us as whatever they perceive our race to be. That can be positive or negative but, it will most probably never be right.

What are the ways / tools / methods that have been used to further reinforce negative stereotypes into society? The media will continue to favour those in power and so everything is tailor made to preserve and pander to the white, middle class, hetero-patriarchy. I think that black on black crime is one of the most upsetting [tools] , the prison system and brexit etc, etc. The methods are endless and what scares me is their ability to disguise and dilute micro aggressions it’s like a silent but deadly approach at the preservation of white-supremacy. Its insidious.

continue to play with what we’ve got.

What is the applicability of a collective body politić in relation to black trauma? No one person’s experience is the same, period. be it trauma, sexuality, gender, mental health, physical health etc etc. It isn’t possible or necessary to put an umbrella over those things, they’re all too fragile to be pigeon holed.

Are issues of ‘otherness’ still prevalent in today’s ‘post-racial’ societies? I don’t think that we live in a post-racial society. These issues will always prevalent.

What typifies and justifies ‘whiteness’ in it its relationship to questions of power? Whiteness is in our curriculum, its in our advertising, it works along side and throughout consumerism and capitalism. It is the water in our taps. The black body politic exists as a glitch in these systems that were not made for us because the system is essentially just whiteness... I think.

What about the possibility of black liberation? On a panel with my friend Rabz Lansiquot the other day they spoke about the needed transition from black representation to liberation which was the first time I found language to discuss this ‘journey.’ At this point the baggage is too heavy to be able to imagine reaching any kind of end but, like Rabz said, there is a shift that needs to be made but that ball isn’t in our court, as most balls aren’t. We can only